RUN
by Lady Ehlipant
Summary: One Friday night, we went out as usual. Got drunk, went to the toilet. Next thing I knew, I was inside a suitcase. Kidnapped, starved, raped. And that concluded my life for one hundred and fifteen days. I survived. But while surviving, I slowly lost my will to escape. Slowly, I forgot about myself. Slowly, Mikan Sakura, the cheerful princess of Class B ceased to exist.
1. Prologue

**RUN**

 _Lady Ehl_

(I disown Gakuen Alice.)

 **PROLOGUE**

There was a time in my life where I actually pondered about some news I overheard from the television as my Dad was supposedly watching it. As silly as it sounded, some man tried to flee a poor teenager from the country by putting her inside a suitcase. Unfortunately for him, he was caught by airport security and a sniffer dog. Though it was only a matter of minutes, I had thought about it. _How can someone fit inside a suitcase?_

As a five year old girl, I lacked common sense. I was the kind of person who has inadequate natural ability to make practical judgments. Didn't think of the size of the person, the size of the luggage or how flexible the person being put inside is – the factors which can contribute to the possibility of someone fitting inside a suitcase.

I just happened to ask myself about it and went back to fiddling a girly toy, while the reporter gave some kind of general tips on how to survive an abduction or hostage situation.

Now, I wished I listened 'til the end of the news.

Maybe there could be a way to open the zipper from the inside of an unknown species of Samsonite Luggage. Or some technique to use bobby hair pins to unlatch a padlock, in some other cases – my case, a pair of handcuffs. Perhaps the reporter mentioned on how to ease your back pain from being arched too long, your elbows jabbing your legs, your feet so numb being deprived of proper blood circulation. And also, if possible, how to shut your fight, fright and flight system.

When I realized I was being locked inside a suitcase, I tell myself this is not happening. I spent minutes, if not hours, trying to remember how I ended up here. But as I dig my brain from recalling my memories, my head pounds like crazy as if my eyeballs wanted to pop out from its sockets. Nauseous, I also felt like gagging. Worse than getting hangover on Friday nights.

I did everything on what first timers like me probably does in situations like these – at least I developed common sense now that I'm seventeen. I panicked, I tried to break free until my wrists bled, screamed behind the duct tape plastered across my mouth. I cried, cried and cried. I wet myself from both sweat and urine. Then came the realization that I just wasted fluids on my body.

I lost track of time. All I know was it took my wounds to form thin scabs when my abductor finally decided to release me from the suffocating suitcase. If I was in the same condition from the first time I regained my consciousness, I might've kicked my abductor's face and ran to escape.

But I don't even have the chance to move a muscle. I was exhausted, starved. Surprisingly, I was happy. Thankful, even. That finally, I saw light. I breathed air that doesn't stink of urine and sweat – though this new musky scent's still far from being called fresh.

He lifted me up, took me out of the bag and carelessly threw me on a dirty mattress. He's got a bottle of water – the only thing clean in this unkempt, blotchy, abandoned room – and tossed it towards me, hitting my shoulder in the process. I whimpered, but reached for the crimped plastic bottle.

 _Water. Water. Water._

I cried, or if I had any moisture left. Longing for fluids for so long, but I don't have any energy left to even uncap the bottle. The man scoffed and stole my water away from me, with so little force unclosed the lid and pour water over my still scrunched body. I strived to catch decent drops by mouth, but most of it just bathed me. And I more than wanted to drink than to rinse my fetid, grimy skin.

He laughed a bit and said something about I might get cold, I don't quite understand else. So he stripped me naked, forced my bent bones to straighten up. My abductor analyzed me for a moment before he began assaulting me – sexually.

And that concluded my life for one hundred and fifteen days.

I survived.

But while surviving, I slowly lost my will to escape. Slowly, I forgot about myself. Slowly, Mikan Sakura, the cheerful princess of Class B ceased to exist.


	2. Chapter 1

I disown Gakuen Alice

 **RUN**

 **CHAPTER ONE**

"Good morning, Detective." The sarcasm was there. He guessed it'll always be there. Detective Hotaru Imai just phoned him two hours after midnight, his eyes could barely lift its lids and as much as he wanted to end the call, he'll just make a fool out of himself. Receiving calls from veteran Detective Hotaru Imai is a responsibilty, and this might also mean she's going to kick him out of bed.

"What?" He groaned. He lacks sleep. He wanted to stay in the broadness of his soft, comfy sheets. But then again he knew it wasn't just him. They are all deprived of rest. The whole team, especially the woman over the line.

"Duty calls. I need you to see this." She said, or rather demanded, with indistinct chattering on the background. "Ever heard of Tokorozawa Mental Hospital? Saitama Prefecture?"

"You mean former." He corrected, could imagine Imai rolling her eyes. "Course. Demolished almost two decades ago."

"Good to know you're so well-informed." She mocked. "See you in thirty or so." And the line was cut with a clean beep.

He threw his phone beside him and buried his face on the pillows. After counting ten, one-week old Detective Natsume Hyuuga rose from his seductive bed, dragged himself to wash his face and changed himself into a pair of jeans, white shirt, black leather jacket and boots.

Natsume bolted downstairs and then outside to his garage where his automobile sparkled with newness. He smirked at himself for the abrupt purchase and got in. He turned on the engine, the GPS and off he went.

With six minutes to spare, Natsume arrived at the gate of the institution. He knew Hotaru meant she should see him eye to eye, so at exactly half an hour he will meet her. At the gates were officers, who checked his identification. They let him pass but his car had to be parked near the gate since the scene were past the trees to the left. True enough, he saw flickering lights towards the place past the skeleton trees.

Before walking straight to where Hotaru Imai is, Natsume took the chance to observe the place. Surely, the land is big. How big? Maybe a whole subdivision. It got buildings partially ruined, must be the age. Broken, shattered windows and chained metal doors. A cemetery on the West, and the woods itself on the South. Creepy. He thought it might be better to meet up with Hotaru Imai now.

"You're late." Hotaru greeted.

"It's nice to see you, too." Natsume saw many people. Fellow homicide detectives, officers, photographers, technicians and others. All in their uniforms.

"We'll be moving down two after the other." Her brows almost met each other, holding two flashlights and two pairs of gloves then she gave him his.

"Down?" Natsume bothered to ask. It poked something in his memory.

"Crime scene was located underground. A group of teenagers accidentally discovered the place while doing some recreation or so in the middle of the night. One kid fell into the pit." Hotaru explained. "Thought it was some kind of underground base soldiers used to have in wars so he went deeper inside hoping to find interesting relics, luckily he had a flashlight for who-knows-what-purpose, then found six suitcases neatly arranged in a cabinet. Curiosity did its job and ta-da. Bones of a corpse in fetal position terrified him. As soon as we got here, we found the remaining five unopened and revealed a massacre. Another, it wasn't so hard to guess they're children given the size of their bones. Oh God."

Natsume cringed at the intel. It's just so hard to swallow crimes if minors were involved. Innocent children being brutally murdered, and who knows what other horrible things happened to them before they were choked to death. "How deep is the pit?"

"Seven. Wide as quarter of a standard size classroom." Hotaru informed. Soon enough two officers with cameras and other photography necessities came out from the small opening from the ground roofed with blue awning. "It's our turn. We'll be out in ten minutes. Yuu needed to take the suitcases after."

Natsume flickered his flashlight on and tailed Hotaru, who turned around a step before the opening in the ground. "I'll be going down first." She said, grabbing the end of the ladder earlier placed by the team. Step by step she slowly and carefully felt the rung with her heeled shoes. Natsume watched her go deeper until the dark ate her. A few seconds after she turned her lights on and flicked it with her palm, signaling Natsume to follow her.

It was awfully dark inside. Despite the spotlights installed on the corners of the awning, only a little beam of light passes through and disappeared halfway at 3 feet. It's not possible to enlarge the hole, that would mean breach of evidence. The chatters of the others up on the ground lessened so much, so effective for a kidnapping chamber. As he went deeper, it got colder and creepier. Natsume hissed at Hotaru for killing the lights.

"Are you scared?" She jeered at him with a smirk on her face, earning a growl from him. "So? What do you think?"

He breathed in, feeling the ghastliness of the place. "November 1992. Same underground pit. Lesser space, six feet tall about three people wide. Just like Hijiri's methodology." He gritted his teeth, God knows how much he wanted to forget, but it ain't that easy. Never mission was easy when he's still a police sniper. After shooting Goshima Hijiri's head, brains scattering all over the room where he blasted him, Natsume had to consult a psychology to mend his trauma. Every week of therapy, anti-depressants, and help of friends brought him back. It was his first time actually delivering a person to his death bed. Most of the time he immobilize targets, and he was not that emotionally prepared to kill. But given the situation, he had to make decisions. And his decision led him to Hijiri's end. There's a consequence though, he could not hold his GOL-Snipef Magnum anymore, and any other sniper gun.

Hotaru also breathed in. This time, she grabbed the flashlight with more force than necessary. She doesn't wanna look scared for the second time she sees the horrific crime scene. Another was she wouldn't wanna look soft now that Natsume was here. She won't give his ex the credit to see her vulnerable side, even though he's letting her see his now.

Natsume scanned the area. A quarter of a standard size classroom is small. Maybe two more persons of their size can fit inside without bumping each other. But it is spacious enough for one kidnapper and a kid, though nobody knows how did he managed to bury six kids in here. One by one, two, nobody knows.

The walls are the ground itself, and it's pretty neatly done. Not the kind of walls a shovel alone could do, Natsume theorized. There's a bucket, a dilapidated, almost unrecognizable wooden stool, few water plastic bottles crumpled and clouded, and when Natsume directed his flashlight on the ground ceiling, there he saw a hook without anything tied in it.

"He hangs his victims." Natsume concluded, eyeing Hotaru who was probably thinking the same thing.

"Maybe. We'll know after Yuu's done with his work." She simply responded. Forensics play a huge role in the justice system. In crime scenes, there are many things that contribute to solving a crime. In forensic pathology, rigor mortis is very important, it shows how long that person has been dead and to tell approximately what time the death occurred. There's also the autopsy, you can perform internal, external, or both types of autopsy, then take observations that can be looked over again and could be used for a crime investigation. And to identify a victim, they can look at tattoos, piercings, scars, and in this case where only the skeletal system remains, DNA. Yuu Tobita is best in the state and had been working alongside them for a while now.

The only thing that the detectives hate was the whole process is time consuming. One corpse can take days to be written to a report, how much more with six of them?

Hotaru Imai trailed Natsume as he observed the area, and her brows met the instant he arrived in front of the infamous cabinet. It was steel, and painstakingly manmade. Like it was made just for this purpose. The door creaked as he pulled it open, the handle feeling icy in his gloved fingers.

Six ancient looking luggage unveil, two rows and three in each column. The metal parts were rusting, locks are present but can be easily smashed with a rock. There's a smell, loamy and musty. Stains are also visible in certain parts, mostly on the lower area. The corpses must be past their decomposition state, don't know how long but surely it's been years.

Before Natsume could made a move, he was speechless at first. Unbelieving, hesitating. How could someone do this kind of evil? He just stared at the dreadful truth, the one you can't unseen, can't help but imagine the terrible things the kids had gone through in such a young age. They died without knowing the future. The parents...just how ironic would it feel, so happy that their long gone children was finally found and that they could bury them properly so their souls could rest?

Natsume kneeled on one knee, reached for a suitcase and zipped it open. The smell wasn't so bad, just earthy and a hint of faint decay. And then there it is, bones kept in a clear plastic bag tied with durable rope. There was a sparkle as he shone his light onto the bag. Natsume inspected it clearly. Together with the remain was a necklace, a heart locket to be specific. Natsume focused the light onto it, and found an intricate carving.

 _Mikan Sakura._

"He labelled them?"

Hotaru shook. "No. Other five didn't reveal anything like the locket, or name tags like this. One had a teddy bear, the other got a mug. More like he took the most important thing to them, their prized possessions, and let them be with it until their last breath."

"Jesus." He covered his mouth with his hand, Hotaru gave him a light tap on his shoulder.

"Ten's done. We need to get up now, Natsume."

Natsume stood up, straightening his body and gazed at the victims once more.

He whispered to them inside his mind. He's saying they will finally see the light after being in the dark for so long. He assured to them they will go back to their parents and be buried properly. He prayed, that the sinner should get punished to hell.

Mikan Sakura will be going home, together with the other five. He promised it, and Natsume knows Hotaru is telling these things to herself also.

Two persons went inside the pit, one was Forensic anthropologist Yuu Tobita. He was about to fetch the body bags to be turned to the lab at Tokyo, get them autopsied and make a report. Easy to say, but Yuu's head is pounding now both with fear and stress. This case is just too...big. Six remains discovered, just how much relatives would hope it's their missing loved one? There was no date, no other clues except the toys in the bags. Tokyo State Police's phone lines will soon explode. They all just hope it wouldn't be too soon.

But media is media.

Six hours right after the pit was discovered, the news was out in television nationwide.

* * *

 **Hi! So...this is the first chapter and I think it took me many many months just to upload this 2,000 word chapter. Haha forgive me guys. There's just so many things to do.**

 **So, tell me about it. :)**

 **-Lady Ehl**


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